| 释义 |
futile, a.|ˈfjuːtɪl, -aɪl|
[a. F. futile or ad. L. fūtilis (more correctly futtilis) that easily pours out, leaky, hence untrustworthy, vain, useless, usu. supposed to be f. fud- stem of fundĕre to pour out.]
1. Incapable of producing any result; failing utterly of the desired end through intrinsic defect; useless, ineffectual, vain.
c1555Harpsfield Divorce Hen. VIII (Camden) 252 How weak and futile it is..we have already shown. c1750Shenstone Elegies ix. 31 Disdaining riches as the futile weeds. 1758Johnson Idler No. 13 ⁋8 Half the rooms are adorned with a kind of futile tapestry. 1792Burke Pres. St. Affairs Wks. VII. 113 Render it as futile in its effects, as it is feeble in its principle. 1802Syd. Smith Wks. (1867) I. 12 All complaint is futile which is not followed up by appropriate remedies. 1853C. Brontë Villette xvii, These struggles with the natural character..may seem futile and fruitless, but in the end they do good. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 112 An inference that Protagoras evades by drawing a futile distinction between the courageous and the confident. 1875E. White Life in Christ Pref. (1878) 13 This is indeed an appeal which is made by every futile dreamer.
2. Occupied with things of no value or importance, addicted to trifling, lacking in purpose. ? Obs.
1736Bolingbroke Patriot. (1749) 112 These judgments and these reasonings may be expected in an age as futile and as corrupt as ours. 1751Chesterfield Lett. (1792) III. 152 The polite conversation of the men and women of fashion at Paris, though not always very deep, is much less futile and frivolous than ours here. Ibid. 192 Frivolous futile people. 1791Boswell Johnson 27 Mar. an. 1775 ‘Davy has some convivial pleasantry about him; but 'tis a futile fellow.’
†3. Unable to hold one's tongue, addicted to talking, loquacious. Obs. [From the etymological sense, ‘leaky’.] Cf. futility 3.
1612Bacon Ess., Counsell (Arb.) 320 One futile person, that maketh it his glory to tell, will do more hurt, then manie that know it their dutie to conceale. 1625― Simulation (Arb.) 508 Talkers and Futile Persons.
4. quasi-n. A futile person.
1892T. Duncan Canaanitish Woman x. 130 After all, why should he remain for ever among the futiles?
Hence ˈfutilely adv., ˈfutileness.
1727Bailey vol. II, Futileness, Futility, Blabbing, Silliness, Lightness, Vanity. 1812J. J. Henry Camp. agst. Quebec 80 Being without arms, and in an unknown country, my inconsequence and futileness lay heavy on my spirit. 1881Harper's Mag. LXIII. 353 Regnault met his death, futilely in almost the last engagement of the war. 1888M. W. Hungerford Hon. Mrs. Vereker I. xvii. 232 The Chinese lanterns that so liberally, but so futilely, sought to light the pleasure grounds. |